Swiatek recovers from 0-6 loss in first set to beat Keys in 'weirdest' match in Madrid quarters

MADRID (AP) — Iga Swiatek survived “one of the weirdest matches” after losing the first six games and recovering to defeat Madison Keys 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 and stay on track to defend her title at the Madrid Open on Wednesday.

Coco Gauff also advanced to the semifinals, beating teenager Mirra Andreeva in straight sets.

Swiatek was overpowered by Keys early in their quarterfinal but eventually found a way to rally past the fifth-ranked American on center court.

“It was one of the weirdest matches I played,” the second-ranked Swiatek said. “Maddie was playing just perfectly at the beginning and I wasn’t really proactive with anything. I let Maddie do more mistakes by just putting the ball back and the momentum changed.”

Swiatek said it didn't feel good to go down 0-6 at the start of the game, adding that it was “weird.”

“At least it was fast, that’s the only positive think,” she said. “I just stayed in there. Obviously it wasn’t easy.”

It was the first meeting between the two since Swiatek squandered a match point in the semifinals of the Australian Open that was won by Keys.

Swiatek is trying to reach her third straight Madrid final. She beat Aryna Sabalenka last year after losing to her in 2023.

Sabalenka, the No. 1 player in the world, later faces 24th-seed Marta Kostyuk in her quarterfinal match.

Swiatek hasn’t gone past the semifinals at any tournament since last year’s French Open.

Gauff goes through

Swiatek will next face fourth-ranked Gauff, who got past seventh-ranked Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-1.

The 21-year-old Gauff needed just 92 minutes to earn the win against Andreeva, who turned 18 on Tuesday.

Both Gauff and Andreeva had been able to finish their matches in the previous round just before play was paused because of the major blackout that brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill on Monday. More than 20 matches had to be postponed at the Caja Magica tennis complex.

Arnaldi keeps going

Matteo Arnaldo backed up his victory over Novak Djokovic in the second round of the men's draw by defeating Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals of an ATP 1000 tournament for the second time.

Arnaldi now has three consecutive wins against top 20 opponents for the first time in his career.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis